It's so amazing how many places that these ride reports take us. I've seen more photos and have read more interesting things here then anywhere else. Thanks much for taking the time for the rest of us. It's for sure that I'll never have the chance to do anything like this in real life so reading here is the next best thing.

You're welcome Oldone. I mostly write for a handful of friends and for my dad, who is 82, and through this can keep track of where I am. He's learned to use a browser just for this. Who says an old dog can't be taught new tricks...

Thanks for the additional photos, which I'm going to have a ton of fun looking at. That's really a great story about your Dad. I have a friend who's in his 90's and over the past five years I've helped him learn to use his computer so that he can email with his kids and grand-kids. Now he uses it for lots of things.....

September 2, 2012 - We made our way to Salento from Medellin. The ride from Medellin was amazing. We rode along a ridge for hours, dotted by small villages, strung together by an excellent road.

In Salento we ended up in a small family run hotel. The entire inside of the place was wood or wood paneled and the house sighed under every move. We stayed for two nights and relaxed as there was little to do but walk around and take pictures of windows and door frames. Every window and door frame in the town had a different pattern.

I took the opportunity to shoot a whole series for my budding stock photography career and all got accepted. Earlier, I'd had some back and forth with my friend Paul (who is a far better photographer than I am) and he mercilessly trashed every picture I put forward for review. Some navel gazing and experimenting is resulting in much better pictures now.

We also ran into a few other overlanders here.

The French/Portuguese couple we met bought this camper from another French couple in San Francisco on a whim. They are planning on driving it down to Ushuaia.

Another character was traveling north from Argentina with plans to cross Canada and then hop over to Europe.

A view of downtown Salento.

The town is surrounded by beautiful hillsides.

Here is another of the many door and window frames that now form part of my collection.

From Salento we moved on to Popayan, giving Cali a miss.

__________________
Back in YVR after riding around the world for 2 years. www.nohorizons.net

September 4, 2012 - We arrived in Popayan from Salento and found a "hostal" right next to the church on the main square. Surprisingly, I didn't shoot any real street scenes here at all. It was more of a place to sit and enjoy the people walk back and forth over the main square versus any real sights of note.

Although an enjoyable place to hang out for an afternoon, it was a one-day town.

The museum of modern art was an odd collection of antique city owned artifacts and a few displays by local artists.

Our final stop in Colombia is tomorrow. We're going to Ipiales and will visit the Las Lajas church, built over top a river. It's an unlikely sight.

__________________
Back in YVR after riding around the world for 2 years. www.nohorizons.net

September 6, 2012 - Ipiales is an uninspiring border town. It's big and dirty, with outlying suburbs that would give any aspiring urban planner nightmares. We arrived far too late in the day but got lucky and found a decent place with good wifi, a rarity as of late.

We never turn down an offer to park the bikes in the lobby, which is what happened on this night again. The whole reason for this stop was the church below.

The Las Lajas Sanctuary is built over top a river, replacing a few previous structures to remember the apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1754. This structure was built in 1949. Quite a remarkable structure and certainly worth the visit. We didn't bump into the Virgin Mary after hanging around for a bit so we left for Ecuador.

Colombia was an amazing country to visit and ride around in. Cartagena, El Cocuy, El Poblado in Medellin and Barichara, each place has a unique appeal and stands on its own. After the US, this was our favorite country so far.

__________________
Back in YVR after riding around the world for 2 years. www.nohorizons.net

September 7, 2012 - The tenth country on this trip. As hard as it was getting into Colombia, leaving was very simple. Got stamped out, handed over our precious motorcycle permit (we could have ridden off and they'd be none the wiser), and got an entry stamp for Ecuador.

A few cursory checks of the VIN numbers on the bikes and one piece of paper later we were into Ecuador. The amazing thing is that we paid not a single fee in the entire process, a first for this trip. Our goal for the day was Otavalo, to catch the Saturday market. Although pretty touristy, supply outstripped demand by a factor of twenty or more. There were only a handful of tourists.

Earlier in the day my bike decided it needed a rest. The gear shifter had broken on two sides and I could only very carefully get into first or second gear. No doubt metal fatigue as the thing is more than twenty five years old. We looked around for a welder and luckily found one quickly. Two dollars and an hour later we were back on the road.

The market and Otavalo didn't disappoint.

We ran into a food market first before we stumbled upon the tourist stuff.

The main thing to buy on the tourist market seemed to be Alpaca-spun varieties of clothing. I went on a shooting rampage and experimented with colors and shades a bit more. Alpaca wool throws off the camera focus in bright sunlight I found.

Later in the evening we walked around town and took some more pictures.

This little one was eyeing my coffee while her mom was engaged in conversation.

__________________
Back in YVR after riding around the world for 2 years. www.nohorizons.net

I have to say- after reading your introduction, and considering the massive sum of cash im going to need for a MC trip to Alaska, I immediately asked myself "Damn how do all these people AFFORD these awesome trips??!".

Fortunately im single without kids so maybe Ill have time to figure it out

I have to say- after reading your introduction, and considering the massive sum of cash im going to need for a MC trip to Alaska, I immediately asked myself "Damn how do all these people AFFORD these awesome trips??!".

Fortunately im single without kids so maybe Ill have time to figure it out

Until then, ill live vicariously through your travels..

Well, the basics are the following:

- Make as much money as possible.
- Spend as little money as possible.
- Invest conservatively in something that gives you recurring revenue (rental property, dividend income etc)
- Repeat for 20 years ...
- Retire and do shit like this ....

Avoid expensive stuff like wife and kids and you'll be ok. Get either of the latter and kiss plans goodbye.

__________________
Back in YVR after riding around the world for 2 years. www.nohorizons.net

If you need help finding a tire, let us know. We also have some maps and route suggestions for Ecuador - if you are still in Quito, come in and see us!

We're still in Quito. Currently working on the Galapagos trip. Prob going to fly to Puerto Ayjoro(sp?) and find a boat there. I spent some time with Diego Salvador (Race Tech guy here) to fix some bike bits and bobs the other day. Tried to find a tire, but only Pirelli etc. I really want to see if I can find a Shinko front. The rear has 13,242 kilometers on it and it's not half worn. It's amazing.. rough profile, sticks like glue and cost $54 ...

Looks like you are a few blocks from where we are staying. Might pop in tomorrow to say hi if you are open.

Cheers,
Kevin

__________________
Back in YVR after riding around the world for 2 years. www.nohorizons.net